Bungie Addresses Marathon Pre-Orders Launching Unintended Fate 2 Download

Despite its troubled path to a delayed launch, it seems Marathon may have turned the corner with a new release date now just six weeks away. However, there are still initial issues that need to be resolved before launch, such as installing Destiny 2 on PC when people place Marathon pre-orders.

Marathon doesn't come out until March 5th, so some of you may have been surprised to see something start downloading immediately if you pre-ordered the game on Steam this week. No, you didn't get the game early, nor does your pre-order come with a secret beta test. In fact, the game that installed when you pre-ordered had nothing to do with Marathon at all.

Marathon Triggered A Destiny 2 Pre-Order Download

The game that installed on Steam with Marathon pre-orders was Bungie's latest game, Destiny 2. The studio addressed the bizarre bug in a post on Twitter, noting that it had been fixed. “We fixed an issue where Destiny 2 started to install after pre-ordering Marathon on Steam,” reads a post on Marathon's official account.

It's still unclear if the pre-order issue only affected those who already own Destiny 2 and just didn't have it installed when they pre-ordered Marathon, or if those who don't own the Destiny sequel were also handed a free copy of the game they didn't request. Either way, the issue has sparked an influx of unwanted jokes at the expense of Bungie and Destiny 2.

marathon collector's edition thief statue.

Marathon is the latest release, which has a confusing collector's edition that doesn't include the actual game

Is suggesting that the collector's edition of the game contains the game really that outlandish?

Beware of The Unwanted Destiny 2 “Virus”

If you search the words Destiny and Marathon on social media, you'll be greeted by a sea of people making the same “Don't pre-order Marathon on Steam, it'll download a virus called Destiny 2” joke, which to be fair is pretty funny. Some are less amused and actually believe it was a ploy to boost Destiny 2's declining numbers while people wait for Marathon to arrive.

As for how something like this could randomly happen, PC Gamer has an interesting theory. There is a Destiny 2: Marathon Pack that you get for pre-ordering Bungie's upcoming game. The pack unlocks Marathon-themed cosmetics that can be used in Destiny 2. It's possible that due to a mix-up, Steam somehow thought that you'd also get a copy of the game with your Marathon pre-order Destiny 2 cosmetics.

It seems likely that many people were affected by this terrible bug before Bungie stepped in with a fix. Within hours of pre-orders going live, Marathon cracked the top ten best-selling games on Steam. A positive sign for a game that many wrote off before they even had a chance to play it.